Shutter and shutter adjustment for cameras



3 Sheets-Sheet l June 23, 1936. P. J. BERGGREN SHUTTER NDv SHUTTERADJUSTMENT FOR CAMERAS Original. Filed June 4, 1929 mi M i June 23,1936.

P. J. BERGGREN SHUTTER AND sHuTTER ADJUSTMENT FOR CAMERAS 3 Sheets-Sheet2 Original Filed June 4, 1929 INVENTOR. BY Mx A TI'ORNEY S.

Y.lune 23, 1936.

P. J. BERGGREN I SHUTTER AND SHUTTER ADJUSTMENT FOR CAMERAS originalFiled June 4, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. BY QJ-.

ATTORNEYS.

CII

'Patented June 23, 1936 PATENT oFF! SHUTTER AND SHUTTER ADJSTMET FOBCAMERAS Per Johan Berggren, Chicago, lll. Original application June 4,1929, Serial N Divided and this llplication May 5,

1933, Serial No. 669,524k

9 Claims. (Cl. 8819.3)

This invention relates to motion picture cameras and has for its objectthe provision of an improved shutter structure'and operation thereforfor said motion picture cameras. v

A further object is to provide an improved drive gear structure foroperating the shutters of the motion picture camera.

A further object is to provide an improved control mechanism for theshutter driving gear whereby the degree oi opening of the shutters maybe adjustably varied and controlled manually as well as automatically.

A further object is to provide a shutter control mechanism whichvisually displays to the opera-- tor the relative relation of theshutters to each other at all times during-the operation of the camera.Y

A furtherobject is to provide safety devices for automatic shuttercontrol.

A still further object is to provide an improved bearing structure forshutter operating shafts to permit and facilitate rotative as well asendwise sliding movement in either direction at the same time.

AOther objects will appearmore fully hereinafter. 'I'he inventionconsists substantially in the construction, combination, location.' andrelative arrangement of parts, all as will be morel fully hereinafterset forth and pointed out in the appended claims, and as shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view taken on the lineI-I of Fig. 2 and showing a preferred form of shutter control mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a view taken onthe'line 2-2 otFlg. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-'3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail view in elevation o! the dial indicator forindicating the relative adjustments of the shutters; and

Fig. 5 1s a view takenpn the une s-sbr The same part is designated bythe same refer-'f' Referring now to thedrawings, I will now describe theshuttermechanism employing the prinl ciples of my invention, includingoperating dewithin the camera casing 30.

vices, drive gearing therefor, and the control for -shutter members, andthe provision of control mechanism by which the relative positions ofthe shutter members may be adjusted and maintained, either manually orautomatically, to vary the area of shutter opening as exigency of usemay require, as well as the duration of the shutter opening, and/or ofthe closure of the shutter opening. In carrying out this part of myinvention I employ a main operating shaft indicated at 41, which issuitably mounted within the camera casing 30 and adapted to be driven,either manually or by motor, as may be desired. In the particulararrangement shown, to which, of course, my invention is not tobe-limited or 20 restricted, the main shaft 41 extends transverselyMounted within the casing is a longitudinally extending shutteroperating shaft 48, which is suitably geared to and driven from the-main shaft 41, as for ex- 25 ample by means of the intermeshing gears49. A gear member 5l is mounted upon a reduced portion of the tubularshutter operating shaft l,52. VThe gear 5| meshes with and is driven by`gear 50 secured tojshaft 48. suitably mounted 30 1 54 and is receivedupon a short inner hub extension of the gear member 5I; as clearly shownin Fig. 1. 'I'he outer peripheral edge of the inner shutter member 53 isengaged in an annular ring member 55 'which serves to receive and holdthe shutter against displacement or bulging, and also as abalance memberfor the inner shutter disk. The peripheral edge of the shutter member 53may be conveniently swaged into an annular groove formed in the innersurface of the ring member 55. The hub ring 54, of the inner shuttermember 53, may oi' course be secured in its mounted position upon thegear member 5I in any suitable or convenient way, as

by means of rivets or otherwise.

, The outer shutter disk member 56 is suitably secured to a cap member51, which is 'mounted upon to rotate with a shaft 5B,v which extends 55tudinal shiftingmovements of sleeve 63.

IA` i cap member 51 is held between a screw head 59 and gear member 5|.If desired a lock nut' 60 may be interposed between these members 5l,5|, to serve as a retainer for holding the gear member 5| against itsbearing shoulder on the shaft 52, or the adjacent ball bearing 6| forthe shaft 52.

The two shutter` disks 53, 56 are each in the form of a segment whichextends through an annular space or distance of 180, and, as usual,these disks are so relatively arranged and operated 'that their cut-awayportions are brought into register with each other across the line ofexposure to the film through the photographic lens.

In order to secure the best results in the operation of the shuttersunder varying conditions encountered in the use of motion picturecameras, it is exceedingly desirable to provide means whereby theshutters are rotatively adjustable relatively to. each other with greataccuracy, so as to vary the area of the registering openingstherethrough, and hence varying the duration of the exposures. of thisadjustment in motion picture cameras is of exceedingly great importance.

For rotatively actuating the shaft 58 which carries the outer shutterdisk 56, l extend the inner end 'of said shaft 58 through and beyond theinner end of the outer shutter shaft 52, as indicated at 62, Fig. 1.Upon this extended portion of the shaft, which, in the form shown, ispreferably square, I mount the longitudinally movable sleeve member 63carrying at one end a square nut 64 which engages the square crosssection portion 62 of said shaft 58. 'Ihe opposite end of the sleevel|53 carries a spiral nut 65 which embraces a spiral portion 66 formedin the exterior surface of the hollow shaft 52. The sleeve 63 is mountedfor axial rotative movement,

'as well as longitudinal sliding movement. From this construction itwill be seen that when the shaft 66 is rotated the sleeve 63 will rotatewith it, and therefore will not be displaced longitudinally. When,however, the sleeve 63 is shifted longitudinally in one direction or theother by reason of the engagement of the spiral nut 65 with the spiralformation 66 of shaft 52, said shaft will be rotatively shifted ormoved, thereby rotatively displacing the inner shutter member 53correspondingly and with relation to the outer shutter member 56. Thespiral portion 66 of shaft 52 and the nut 65 are provided as shown withmulti-lead long spiral threads.

The relative rotative adjustment of the two shutter membersis eifectedthrough the longi- This sleeve may be adjusted longitudinally in manydifferent ways, the purpose of the longitudinal adjustmentbeing torelatively position the shutter disks with reference to veach other, soas to effect the desired degree of opening of the shutter from zerodegrees up to the maximum of 180. I have shown one form of control ofthe longitudinal position of sleeve 63 which is effected by manualoperation, through a rotatively displaceable hand operated setting disk68. This setting disk is carried within a casing 69, suitably mountedupon the casing exteriorlyY thereof and provided with the transparentWindow 68'. The setting disk 68 is provided with an operating knob orhandle 10, by whichit may be rotatively displaced. The setting disk ismounted upon a shaft Il which extends through the wall of the camera anddecreased when shifted in the other The simple and accurate control.

longitudinally through the tubular shaft 52. The

casing and on which is mounted a cam sleeve 12. A roller or othersuitable device 13 carried by sleeve 'I4 is arranged to engage withinthe cam slot 15 of the cam sleeve. This Cam slot, when said sleeve 'l2is rotated, will cause the sleeve I4 to travel back and forth along itssupporting stud shaft 16, said stud shaft being suitably mounted insupports 11, 'l1El mounted within the camera casing. The sleeve 14 isprovided with an extension which works within an annular groove in aspool 19 mounted upon the end of sleeve 63.

By this arrangement when the setting disk 68 is rotatively adjusted thesleeve 63 will be shifted or moved endwise in one direction or the otheraccording to the direction of rotative adjustment of said disk. Ifshifted in one direction or the other said sleeve will eiect a rotativedisplacement of shaft 52 with relation to the shaft 58, thereby varyingcorrespondingly the area of shutter opening, the opening being increasedwhen the sleeve 63 is shifted in one direction,

direction.

It is desirable and important to provide means whereby the cameraoperator may constantly be apprised of the relative positions of theshutters; that is, of the area of opening afforded by the shutters. Toaccomplish this result, I associate with the setting disk 68 a dialarrangement having suitable graduations as indicated at (Fig. 4) which,by reason of the position of the setting disk 68, reveals to the cameraoperator at all times not only the extent of relative adjustment of theshutters, but also the duration to the actual fraction of a second ofeach individual exposure. The outer graduations of the dial are providedto indicate the arc of the shutter opening, while the inner ring ofgraduations indicate the duration of the individual exposures. I preferto employ black and white surfaces in connection with the indicatingdevice, the dial graduations being formed on the white 'surface andbeing carried by the setting disk 68 will be exposed to the camera man,the white surface ofv It may sometimes be desirable to effect theshifting of the position of the sleeve 63 automatically, the automaticoperation, however, being under the control of the operator. I haveshown a simple arrangement for accomplishing this result wherein I mountupon the shaft 'll a. spur wheel 80B, of large diameter, which isadapted to be engaged and driven by one or the other of two gear wheels8|, 82 which are driven in reversed directions, according to whether theone or the other of them i s shifted into engaging or meshing relationwith respect to stud gear Wheel 80a. The gear 8| is sleeved upon torotate with, but capable of sliding longitudinally of the shaftindicated at 83, and said sleeve is shiftable by means of a pin or stud8'! (see Fig. 3) engaging .in an annular groove of a collar carried bythe .beshiftedsoastocausegearntomeshwith and drive gear ll. When pushbutton 88' 'is pressed inwardly the parts mentioned will be shiftedtowards the left as viewed in Fig. 3 so as to cause gear 8| to mesh withand drive gear all"L in the opposite direction. In Fig. 3 the parts areshown in normal or neutral position, that is, in the position in whichneither of gears 82, nor 8| are meshed with the gear 80". 'Ihe gear 82is carried .to slide upon a' short stud shaft 81. The sleeve whichcarries the gear 82 carries also a gear 88, which remains in constantmesh with gear 8| and is driven thereby but in reverse direction fromthat 'in which gear 8| is driven. The bracket formed by the side platesor collars 85, 85, engage the ends of the sleeve gear 8|, 88, therebycausing all these parts to move together as a unit when one or the otherof the buttons 88, 86* is pushed inwardly. When either of the buttons isreleased after being depressed, the gear 82, or gear 8|, is shifted backinto normal, neutral position with reference to gear 80. The gear 82 isconstantly driven by reason of the meshing of gear 8| in either of itspositions with the gear 88, which is connected to sleeve carry-f inggear 82. The gear 8| is of sufficient axial length to permit theretention of the meshing together of gears 8| and 88.

It will `be observed that the gear 80 is a segmental gear, see Fig. 2,that is to say, the gear teeth formed on this gear Aoccupy only asegmental portion of the periphery of the said gear. 'Ihe purpose ofthis is that this gear is intended to actuate the cam sleeve 12 throughonly one rotation in one direction or the other, or possibly less thanone complete rotation, to effect a longitudinal movement of sleeve 63 tothe respective limits of such movement in opposite directions.

'Ihe teeth of gear 8|!n are omitted at the extremities of the sectorportion of said gear, so that when the sleeve 88 is controlledautomatically through the operation or control of push button 86, 85,and the gearing controlled thereby, and when the sleeve 63 reaches thelimit of its control, the gearl teeth of gear 80'* will have passed thepoint where driving connection is effected with gears 82, 8| and thelongitudinal adjusting movement of sleeve 88 will be arrested.

It is important to eliminate or reduce the. friction as much as possibleof the rotative and 1ongitudinal movements of the sleeve 63 in order tosecure a smooth, easy operation of the A shutter control devices. Thiscan be accomplished in many different ways. shown, see Fig. 1, wherein aball bearing structure, indicated generally at 89, is provided withinwhich the sleeve 83 is permitted to rotate and through which the saidsleeve is permitted to. This ball .bearing device consists of ringslide. members 98, 8|, mounted in a recess formed in supporting bracket11, and held therein by means of a threaded cap member 92. 4 The bearingrings 9D, 9| have plane inclined surfaces on their opposed or proximatefaces, thereby forming an equilateral triangular raceway, withinwhich'the antifriction balls of the bearing are held. The

are, respectively, one on each `ring and one on the sleeve; the contactson the rings being on the inclined faces of said rings. These three con-A simple arrangement isI tact points of course are spaced 120 apart.'Ihis structure secures a most eihcient anti-friction bearing not onlyfor the rotative movement of the sleeve, but also for the slidingmovements thereof. These sliding movements or rotative movements are inone direction or the other, and avoid any possibility of causing orpermitting jamming of the balls. Other and ordinary ball bearings m-ayalso be provided for the shafts 58 and 52. I have already referred toone of said bearings as indicated at 6| for the outer end of the shaft52. A similar ball bearing support is shown at 93'for the inner endofthe shaft'58. These several bearings 6|, 89 and 93 afford amplesupport for the shafting of the shutter control mechanism.

It will be understood that the spiral nut 65, as well as the square nutB4 will serve the purpose .of supporting bearings for the shafts 58, 52and that the outer shaft 52 will serve as a supporting bearing for theinner shaft 58. This makes a very efficient and effective bearingstructure for said shafts.

It may happen that the automatic shutter control mechanism will get outof working order by reason of the gears jamming or getting broken, orotherwise. Should such an exigency arise, it is important to providemeans whereby the camera. is not entirely put out of commission. rlInaccordance with my invention, therefore, I propose to provide meanswhereby in case of jam- 4ming or other derangement of the automaticfastened at one end to a convenient part of the driven shaft member 83and having its free end extending into engagement, in the manner of apawl; with a shoulder 91 on the sleeve which carries'the gear 8|. ThusIprovide a safety arrangement by means of which the gear 8| is driventhrough the spring 96. In case of jamming of the gearing referred to,all that is necessary to be done is to remove the bow-spring S6, therebythrowing out of commission the automatic shutter control mechanism butthe manual shutter control device remains in complete working operation.If the gearing should jam while in operation 'the end ofspring .88 willslip out of notch 91 or will snap off disconnecting the gearing from thedriving means.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I provide anexceedingly simple and eilicient and controllable shutter operatingmechanism, and various other features, which I have hereinbeforedescribed and set forth. It will be understood, of course, thatvariations and changes in the details of construction and arrangementof' parts may readily occur to those skilled in the art and still fallwithin the spirit and scope of my invention, but having now set forthAthe objects and nature of my invention and structures embodying theprinciples thereof, what I claim as new and useful and of .my owninvention is:

1. In a camera, a shutter mechanism including shutters and rotativeshafts on which said shutters are respectively mounted, and4 means forrotating said shafts, one of said shafts having a longitudinal spiralformation, a nut engaging said spiralled portion, a sleeve for shiftingsaid nut shutters, driving means to automatically actuate saidadjustable displacing means, and a yieldable connection forming part ofthe driving means for disengaging the adjusting means from the drivingmeans when the load thereon exceeds a predetermined amount.

3. In a camera shutter mechanism including rotatively actuated shutters,in combination with means to adjust the angular displacement of theshutters, and means to automatically actuate said adjustable displacingmeans including a cam for driving said adjustable displacement means, asegmental gear for actuating the cam, a pair of shiftable gearsengageable with said segmental' gear to reversibly drive it,'and a pairof 'manually operable members for effecting engagement betweensaidsegmental gear and other gear of said pair.

4. In a camera. shutter mechanism including rotatively actuatedshutters, in combination with means to adjust the angular displacementof the shutters, and means to automatically actuate said adjustabledisplacing means including a cam for driving said adjustabledisplacement means, a segmental gear for actuating I/the cam, a pair ofshiftable gears engageable With said segmental gear to reversibly driveit, and means :for normally holding said gears out of engagement withsaid segmental gear.

5. In a camera a shutter mechanism including rotatable shutter shaftsand means for rotating the same in combination with means to adjustablyvary the angular displacement of said shaft to vary the shutter opening,including a longitudinal slidable member, a cam for effecting slidingmovement thereof, a segmental gear for rotating said cam, a pair ofgears shiftable for engagement of either thereof with said segmentalgear to effect movement of the gear in either direction, a pivoted hookengageable with said pair of gears to effect their engagement anddisengagement with the segmental gear, means for normally holding thehook in position to disengage both` gears of the pair from the segmentalgear, and a pair of operable members for effecting movement of the hook'-member in either direction.

6. In a camera a shutter mechanism including rotatable shutterr shaftsand means for rotating the same in combination with means to adjustablyvary the angular displacement of said shaft to Vary the shutter opening,including a longitudinal slidable member, a cam for effecting slidingmovement thereof, a segmental gear for rotating said cam, a pair ofgears shiftable for engagement of either thereof with said segmentalgear to effect movement of the gear in either direction, a pivoted hookengageable with said pair of gears to eiect their engagement anddisengagement with the segmental gear, means for normally holding thehook in a position to disengage both gears of the pair from thesegmental gear, and manual means connected to said cam for effectingmovement thereof.

7. In a camera a shutter mechanism comprising a pair of telescopedrotatable shafts each having a shutter thereon, in combination withmeans to adjustably vary the angular displacement of said shafts to Varythe shutter openings including a cam, means interconnecting the cam withsaid shafts,.a segmental gear for operating said cam, a pair of gearsfor driving the segmental gear in either direction, `means for manuallyshifting either gear of said pair into engagement with the segmentalgear, and means for normally holding said shifting means in neutralposition.

8. In a camera a shutter mechanism including 'a pair of telescopedshafts each having a shutter thereon, the inner shaft extending beyondthe end of the outer shaft and having a rectangular cross section, theadjacent end of the outer shaft havingva spiral formation, a spirallythreaded nut engaging therewith, a rotatably and slidably mounted sleevesecured to said nut and enclosing the rectangular end of the innershaft, and means for longitudinally shifting said sleeve to vary theangular displacement of said shafts to vary the shutter openingincluding a nut secured to said sleeve and encircling the rectangularportion of the inner shaft, a cam, means connecting the cam with saidsleeve, and manually controlled means for automatically effectingrotation of said cam.

9. In a camera a shutter mechanism including a pair of telescoped shaftseach having a shutter thereon, the inner shaft extending beyond the endof the outer shaft and having a rectangular cross section, the adjacentend of the outer shaft having a spiral formation, a spirally threadednut engaging therewith, a rotatably and slidably mounted sleeve securedto said nut and enclosing the rectangular end of the inner shaft, andmeans for longitudinally shifting said sleeve to vary the angulardisplacement of said shafts to vary the shutter opening including a nutsecured to said sleeve and encircling the rectangular portion of theinner shaft, a cam, means connecting the cam with said sleeve, and aball bearing for supporting said sleeve for rotative and longitudinalmovement including a pair of races having opposed faces lying in planesat an acute angle and a plurality of ball members interposed in saidraces so as to contact the inclined faces and the circumference of thesleeve.

PER JOHAN BERGGREN.

